


Sweater Swap

by davecabbage



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chuck Lives, Fluff, M/M, Sharing Clothes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-29
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-04-01 08:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4013116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/davecabbage/pseuds/davecabbage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After some pestering, Chuck and Raleigh swap clothes. One of them may like it a little more than they are willing to admit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweater Swap

**Author's Note:**

> So [pandajelo](http://pandajelo.tumblr.com/) aka [blue_blu](http://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_blu/pseuds/blue_blu) asked for drawing suggestions and for some reason I have a slight OTP exchanging clothes obsession, and well the resulting artwork was just so freakin' amazing and adorable that I couldn't not write a fluffy short to go with it. I decided to take a break from the huge fic I'm currently working on to post the finished result that I finally got around to fixing up.
> 
> Links to the original artwork and short can be found [here](http://pandajelo.tumblr.com/post/115509637326/davecabbage-asked-for-some-chaleigh-clothes-swap) and [here](http://pandajelo.tumblr.com/post/115961771886/davecabbage-pandajelo-davecabbage). 
> 
> All this cute as hell art by [pandajelo](http://pandajelo.tumblr.com/) aka [blue_blu](http://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_blu/pseuds/blue_blu). You should all go check out this super talented artist and their amazing work~

                                                         

Chuck was staring down at his tray of food, stabbing at his mashed potatoes with a little too much force and gnashing his teeth together as he chewed.

He was trying really hard to ignore the fingers pulling at and caressing the fur lining the collar of his leather jacket. Normally he would be fighting to ignore the brush of those fingers against the back of his neck for entirely different reasons. On those occasions he would have been trying to hide the blush from forming on his cheeks and fighting the shiver that those fingers on his skin would elicit.

But not this time.

This time he was fighting the urge to slap those fingers away and make the incessant pestering stop.

“Let me wear it.” Raleigh begged, still fingering the soft material at the nape of Chuck’s neck.

“For the last time, no. Now piss off.” Chuck snapped back. He dropped his fork and gave in to that urge to slap Raleigh’s pestering fingers away.

“Aww come on.” Raleigh whined at him. He rubbed his fingers in mock hurt and pouted at Chuck.

Max’s begging for food was less annoying than this. Chuck almost wished he could push Raleigh under the table with his dog and ignore both of their attempts to get something that they couldn’t have.

“What is the bloody fascination?” Chuck asked in exasperation, abandoning his meal once it was clear that Raleigh was not going to let this drop.

“You’re always wearing the thing” Raleigh shrugged, and that damned pout was working its way back onto his lips. “Starting to think you love it almost as much as Max.”

He didn’t say it but Chuck could hear it anyway. _More than me_. He rolled his eyes. Raleigh was being ridiculous. More so than usual. Wasn’t it Chuck’s job to be the insufferable one?

“Is it comfortable?” Raleigh asked, watching Chuck with his chin in his hand and the fingers of his other hand back on the fur collar. “Or is it purely about the status?”

Chuck really didn’t want to get into this. He was aware that he wore it all the time. It wasn’t such a big deal. It was comfortable, okay? Why wouldn’t he wear it? It had become a part of him. It was his, and his alone.

“It’s important to me, alright? Now leave it alone.” He slapped Raleigh’s hand away from the collar once again.

“You hardly ever take it off.” Raleigh continued undeterred. “Wouldn’t be surprised if you wore it to bed sometimes… Fuck, actually no, don’t give me ideas…”

Chuck froze when he saw Raleigh lick his lips at the thought. His eyes glazed over for a moment before he flushed and looked away. Chuck’s fist clenched under the table.

Holy shit, who knew that Raleigh could be such a kinky little fucker? He tried not to think about that right then. He was supposed to be irritated with the persistent bastard right now. The information was filed away for future use though.

Raleigh cleared his throat and abruptly sat up straight.

“I’ll let you borrow my sweater in exchange?” He suggested with an expectant look.

Chuck balked at the idea. As if that was even a remotely fair trade. That lumpy, old and worn thing for his leather jacket? “The fuck would I want with your gross, ugly sweater?”

Raleigh shrugged. “It’s a lot more comfortable than it looks. Although, you’d know that with your head pressed against my chest all the time.”

“Shut up.” Chuck wanted to smack that shit-eating grin off his face. Though he couldn’t deny the truth that rang in his words. It was pretty nice to lay his head on and rub his cheek against. Although he did kind of chalk that up to just being snuggled up to Raleigh… Fuck, no. That was even worse to admit.

It did look warm though, and comfy. And it probably smelled like Raleigh too…

Chuck bit his lip in contemplation.

“Alright, fine. But just for a few minutes, okay? So we can get this out of your bloody system.” He would later deny that the smile that lit up Raleigh’s face made him glad of his decision.

That was how he’d found himself back in his bunk dressed in Raleigh’s sweater. But the idiot hadn’t stopped there. He’d eyed Chuck’s boots too and somehow convinced him to trade his entire outfit with him. It took all of his self-restraint to let Raleigh get dressed again after he stripped out of his own clothes. But somehow he managed it.

Chuck inhaled deeply as he shrugged the sweater on over his head. Fuck, it smelled just like him. And it really was warm. It was most likely from Raleigh’s body heat, but that just made it feel all the more better against his skin. He was more than a little tempted to make sure that one of Raleigh’s sweaters accidentally “went missing” in the future. This would be pretty nice to fall asleep in…

“How do I look?” Raleigh asked, breaking his train of thought.

“Like a fucking idiot.” Chuck deadpanned when he turned and saw Raleigh striking a ridiculous pose in his clothes with the cheesiest grin on his face.

Raleigh tipped Chuck’s cap.

“G’day mate. Put another kaiju on the barbie.” He said with the worst attempt at what Chuck assumed was supposed to be his accent. He laughed at his own joke.

“Never do that again…” Chuck was embarrassed for the both of them.

 Raleigh was practically bouncing on his heels. “It is pretty comfy. And it does look badass. Man, I forgot how great these things were. I used to wear mine all the time back when-” He stilled as he trailed off, eyes widening ever so slightly and mouth open in a small O as his past caught up with him.

Chuck panicked. This wasn’t where this was supposed to go at all. They were supposed to be screwing around and having a good time, not dredging up the past. “Hey…”

Raleigh shook his head. “I’m okay. Just… can’t think about the good old days without… you know?”

Chuck swallowed and nodded, not really knowing what to say. There wasn’t anything he could say. Instead he just stepped forward and pulled Raleigh into his embrace. He felt Raleigh’s fingers clutch at the sweater.

“It’s the last thing I have of Striker.” Chuck murmured into Raleigh’s neck as he held him. “It’s stupid. It’s just a jacket.”

Raleigh shook his head and mumbled back. “Not stupid.”

Chuck shrugged awkwardly while holding onto him still. “Guess I just loved the uniform. Looked the part. Loud cocky jaeger pilot and all. Came a little late to the whole ranger rockstar thing, you know?”

Raleigh snorted. “We were such assholes back then.”

“Even bigger than you are now?” Chuck asked with mock surprise in his voice.

Raleigh swatted his arm. “Funny.”

He let go after a while and pulled back, staring down at Chuck’s chest. “I can see why you like it.

Raleigh stroked his fingers over Chuck’s chest, feeling the soft material of the sweater. Chuck felt himself shiver despite the warmth of the sweater.

“It does feel really good.” Raleigh murmured. A soft smile returned to his lips and the dark memory hanging over him faded away.

Chuck shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess.”

Raleigh pulled the jacket off and folded it over the back of the chair. “Okay, I had my fun. We can trade back now.”

Chuck was overcome by a sudden overwhelming urge to wrap his arms around himself protectively. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t quite ready to give up the dumb sweater just yet. “Uhh, yeah…”

“Chuck?” Raleigh frowned at first, confused at his sudden change in attitude, but then a knowing smile worked its way on his face. “It _is_ pretty comfy, huh?”

He shrugged, but Chuck could feel his cheeks burning.  “Yeah, I guess.”

And it smells like you, he thought. It’s got your warmth too.

Raleigh took a step forward and Chuck took one back. The back of his legs hit the bed and he fell into a sitting position on the edge. In one swift movement, Raleigh pushed him back down onto the bed and crawled over him and rested his head on his chest. “I don’t need it back right away. I can enjoy it like this.”

Chuck didn’t answer but his bright red face said everything Raleigh needed to hear.

                                                             

 

**Author's Note:**

> A link the the ol' [tumblr](http://davecabbage.tumblr.com/)


End file.
